On November 14, the Institute hosted acclaimed author Orville Schell as the latest lecturer in its Contemporary China Speakers Series at the University of Chicago. The monthly series brings experts from across professions, perspectives and disciplines—including from academia, government, think tanks, journalism and industry—to the University’s Hyde Park campus for stimulating talks and discussions on contemporary China.

Schell’s talk, based in part on his new book Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the 21st Century, ranged over the intellectual history of modern China, including such diverse topics as nationalism, the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party, corruption, foreign relations and state-society relations.

Schell is currently the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on US-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York. A longtime China-watcher and author of many books, he was previously Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.